Debt-reduction class at library

        ERLANGER — As tax season approaches and holiday bills arrive in the mail, many have to watch their pennies.

        For those who want to learn how to reduce debt, the Erlanger branch of the Kenton County Public Library is offering a debt reduction class at 7 p.m. Feb. 26.

        A professional financial analyst will explain simple ways to reduce debt. The free class will explore how to get out of debt, reveal the hidden costs of debt and offer tips on how to stay out of the red.

FAREWELL TO TRAILER PARK: Joe Caudill of Chris Staub Trucking gets ready to install wheels on a trailer to be moved from Hillside Mobile Home Park in Boone County on Friday. The mobile home park closed Thursday over problems with its drinking water. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Register in advance for the program by calling (859) 341-5115. The Erlanger branch is at 3130 Dixie Highway. in front of Silverlake Shopping Center.
       

Council cancels regular meeting

        FORT MITCHELL — City council has canceled its regularly scheduled meeting Monday because of the Presidents Day holiday.

        The next regular council meeting will be March 5.
       

Center's new digs to open Wednesday

        COVINGTON — The Covington Community Center will show off its new quarters at an open house from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday.

        In December, the center's employees moved to 1650 Russell St. The one-story building is nearly triple the size of the center's previous space on Lee Street.

        At the open house, visitors can take part in guided tours, enjoy refreshments and check out displays on the center's functions.

        Center employees also are seeking ideas on ways they can improve the building, and help community groups make better use of the facility, said Rachel DeLugish, neighborhood development coordinator.

        They also hope to recruit participants for the April 21 Great American Cleanup.

        Last year, more than 200 individuals and groups helped beautify Covington. This year, the center hopes to recruit at least 300 volunteers.

        Covington Community Center employees help residents and community groups solve neighborhood, school and individual problems. They often start groups and associations, and help them obtain grants, and they have overseen beautification efforts in various neighborhoods.
       

Bank robberies may be connected

        LOUISVILLE — The FBI is investigating whether a bank robbery in which a teller was killed is connected to another armed holdup earlier that day.

        Authorities at first discounted any link between the robbery of a PNC Bank, for which one man has been arrested, and the fatal shooting of Mary Dell Kaelin-Brandenburg during a National City Bank robbery.

        “After re-evaluation of the facts as we know them today, we thought it prudent to probe further to determine whether there is a connection between the two,” FBI spokesman David Beyer told The Associated Press on Friday. Mr. Beyer would not elaborate.

        Darryl L. Welch, 31, of Louisville, was arrested Wednesday, the day after both robberies. He is accused of brandishing a shotgun and robbing a PNC Bank in southwest Jefferson County. No one was injured in that crime, which happened about 10:08 a.m. EST Tuesday.

        Mr. Welch is in federal custody and is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

        Ms. Kaelin-Brandenburg, 52, of Jeffersonville, Ind., was killed by a gunman wielding a 9 mm pistol who robbed the National City Bank just east of the Louisville city limits about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

        No arrests have been made in the shooting and a $100,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest.
       

Shot fired into courthouse window

        BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A person fired a single shot into the Warren County courthouse on Friday, making a 4-inch hole in an office window before the bullet, apparently slowed by the thickness of the window glass, fell to the floor.

DEADLY TRAIN WRECK: CSX officials inspect an Amtrak passenger train, the Kentucky Cardinal, that hit a semi tractor-trailer on Friday near Crawfordsville, Ind. The driver of the semi died; 44 passengers on the train were unhurt. Police say the train and semi were northbound when the semi made a turn and was hit. (Associated Press photo) | ZOOM |

        The .22-caliber hollow-point bullet entered the office of Warren County Attorney Mike Caudill, who was at a newspaper office when the shooting occurred about 10:30 a.m. CST.
       

Thoroughblades may leave Rupp Arena

        LEXINGTON — The Kentucky Thoroughblades may be forced to move from Lexington, or at least out of their home at Rupp Arena, because of diminished attendance this season.

        Unless the team draws larger crowds, the only way to keep it in Rupp Arena will be at taxpayer expense, Bill Owen, chief executive of the Lexington Center Corp., said Thursday.

        The Thoroughblades, an American Hockey League franchise, recently asked to renegotiate their lease at Rupp. The club now pays $5,000 a game or 10 percent of gross ticket revenue after taxes and bond fees, whichever is greater. That's a minimum of $200,000 a season.

        The team has made several requests to the Lexington Center Corp. that would add up to a $400,000 annual incentive, Mr. Owen said. To do that, the corporation would have to provide free rent, then find another source of revenue — either from local government or the arena.
       

Murder defendant to get mental exam

        LOUISVILLE — A judge ordered a mental examination for a mother accused of setting a fire that killed her 2-year-old son after she became despondent in court.

        Tina M. Quarels, 25, began yelling, crying and striking herself after accepting and then rejecting a plea agreement. She repeatedly said “I'd rather be dead,” and “I didn't try to hurt my babies.”

        Jefferson Circuit Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman postponed her trial on Thursday and ordered a mental evaluation after her attorneys questioned her competency.

        Defense attorney Don Meier said Ms. Quarels had been diagnosed with depression.

        Ms. Quarels is accused of setting fire to her Louisville home in 1998 in an attempt to kill herself and her three children. She and two of her children escaped, but her son, Jumonie Dorsey, died of smoke inhalation.

        Ms. Quarels is charged with one count each of murder and arson, and two counts of attempted murder. If convicted, she could be sentenced to death.
       

Former prosecutor released from prison

        SOMERSET, Ky. — A former commonwealth attorney is free after serving a two-year sentence in federal prison for his conviction on attempted extortion.

        Federal officials confirmed that Ray Carmichael was released Tuesday from the prison at Manchester. The former commonwealth attorney for Pulaski, Rockcastle and Lincoln counties was convicted in 1998 of attempting to extort money from a Somerset pawnshop owner.

        Mr. Carmichael's lawyers claimed unsuccessfully that Mr. Carmichael was trying to run a sting operation of his own.

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